[ENGLAND]David Beckham will miss the 2010 World Cup and his status for the 2010 Los Angeles Galaxy season is in doubt after tearing his Achilles tendon playing for AC Milan Sunday.

Beckham, 34, injured himself while turning with no one on him in the middle of midfield during Milan's game against Chievo Verona. Beckham immediately thought he had broken his left ankle but he had torn his Achilles' tendon.

According to the London Times, Milan team doctor Jean Pierre Meersseman said Beckham, who was in tears after the game and left San Siro on crutches, would fly to Finland on Monday to be operated on by a specialist.

“David’s injury makes us sick,” Milan coach Leonardo said. “When I think of his personal history, everything I know about him, how hard he works, I feel so bad for him."

Beckham had joined Milan on loan from the Galaxy to remain fit and improve his chances of being selected for the England team for the World Cup.

Only this weekend, Beckham had said he wasn't guaranteed of returning to the World Cup for a fourth time in a row -- which would have been an England record.

As an amateur old boys player who went through 9 months of rehab on both my achilles, I know how crippling the injury itself is and remember the crushing disappointment of being unable to play even at my level, for nearly a year. I can only imagine how much worse it must be for a top professional nearing the end of a great career who has worked so hard to make it to his last World Cup. I've not been a big fan of Beckham but my complete sympathy is with him and I wish him a miraculous recovery although I know that it's likely he's done.